In a legal spat that is garnering widespread attention, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and rocket and satellite company SpaceX have sued each other over whether the company’s hiring practices violate U.S. immigration law. On August 23, DOJ filed an administrative lawsuit alleging that the company owned by entrepreneur Elon Musk violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by refusing to hire refugees and asylees. DOJ’s complaint, which will be heard by an administrative law judge (ALJ), alleges that the company discouraged refugees and asylees from applying for jobs and refused to hire them because of their citizenship status. On September 15, SpaceX sued three individuals in their official capacity—the Chief Administrative Law Judge, the ALJ assigned to the case, and Attorney General Merrick Garland—in a federal district court, challenging the constitutionality of the government’s administrative proceeding while defending the company’s hiring practices.
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